With smartphones today you can quickly load up any webpage from the browser, conduct product research, and make a purchase—all in a matter of minutes. The ubiquity of the smartphone represents a massive shift in consumer behaviour. Now you’d be hard pressed to find anyone without one.

Google has also announced that it will be prioritising mobile versions of a website in its search index:

“Mobile-first indexing means that we’ll use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking, to better help our – primarily mobile – users find what they’re looking for.”

The new changes to the ranking algorithm means that mobile-friendly sites have an edge over their desktop only counterparts.

Mobile matters for another reason: Local search. Data from Google has found that one third of mobile searches are related to location. If your business has a local presence, designing an optimised mobile experience needs to be a priority if it isn’t already.

There are plenty of marketing strategies to improve local search results. These include:

Creating a Google My Business page

Building local business citation

Getting customer reviews

Generating links through outreach campaigns

Each of these are crucial to ranking for highly coveted keywords. But here we’ll be talking about how you can design a better mobile experience for your users.

Go Mobile Friendly With a Responsive Design

Simply enter in your URL and click the “Run Test” button. After a few moments you’ll see the results. If your site is mobile friendly, you should see the following:

But if not you’ll need to take immediate steps to ensure your site meets all mobile friendly guidelines. There are three main approaches:

Separate URL

Dynamic serving

Responsive design

Each delivers a mobile friendly experience but they differ in how the code and URL are served. For example, creating a separate mobile site involves serving different code depending on the device. It’s an adequate solution but not exactly practical as it requires more resources to build and maintain. A separate mobile site also dilutes your SEO marketing efforts.

Google’s recommended solution is responsive design—A grid-like structure that dynamically adjusts to all screen resolutions. The code resides on the same URL regardless of the device a user is on.

You’ll need to set the meta viewport tag which gives the browser instructions on page scaling. Follow the instructions that Google provides on implementing responsive design to get started. Alternatively, you can also work with one of our Perth web designers to build a mobile friendly site for you.

Prioritise Content Above the Fold

The “fold” refers to the upper portion of a page that’s visible without scrolling. As you might have guessed, content that’s front and center tends to get the most attention.

Data from the Nielsen Norman Group found that viewing time above the fold is 57%:

Not surprisingly, content farther down the page received less attention.

Desktops offer web designers more space to work with but it’s a different story on mobile. Space is much more limited not to mention that mobile users tend to be more impatient. They want answers and they want them now.

So make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Here’s a good example of a mobile site that priorities key information above the fold:

Here’s what A1 Locksmiths gets right:

Contact information is clearly displayed

Selling points are listed (e.g. “24/7 Fast call out service”)

A call to action button lets visitors call from their device

Hamburger menu lets users tap through to other pages

Someone in desperate need of a locksmith won’t have the patience to scroll through pages of content. The content above the fold works well. It includes all the information needed to contact a locksmith.

Depending on your business you’ll want to prioritise certain types of information. For example, restaurant websites should make operating hours and the menu clearly visible. Meanwhile, a services business like a consulting firm should prominently feature a call to action to schedule a consultation.

Whatever your business, make the content above the fold count.

Because it does.

Make Your Content Easily Legible

It’s happened to all of us:

You search from a mobile device and tap through to a result.

But then you have to pinch and zoom just to read the text. Most users will simply bounce out rather than deal with a poorly optimised experience.

Here’s an example of what you DON’T want your site to look like on mobile:

It’s almost impossible to read the text without zooming.

And here are the results when the same site is put through Google’s mobile friendly test:

Not only is the text too small but users are also more likely to accidentally tap on the wrong elements. So don’t make the same mistake here. Otherwise you risk users bouncing out and tapping through to other search results.

Here’s how you can improve your content’s legibility:

Use at least a 14px font size

Shorten your paragraphs and sentences

Use subheadings to structure your page

Use a line length between 45 to 60 characters

Use lots of white space to reduce clutter

Opt for a sans serif font

Here’s an example of a mobile design that does content legibility right:

The title of the blog post is clearly legible and there’s even a short subheadline that describes what users can expect from the content.

Implement these changes to increase user engagement.

Optimise Your Meta Tags

Meta tags are short snippets of information that reside in a page’s code. They help search engines better understand what your site is about and are also beneficial from a user standpoint. The main ones you’ll want to focus on are your titles and meta descriptions.

Let’s look at how to optimise each:

Title Tags

Title tags are easily one of the most important on-page SEO factors. They’re also what users primarily look at when deciding on which page to click on. Compelling titles are key to standing out in the search results and driving more traffic.

Take a look at these titles:

The first result offers a good example of a well-written title: It includes its target keywords and a clear value proposition that entices users to click through. The other titles are rather bland as they simply consist of the brand name and keyword.

Here’s how to get the most out of your page titles:

Write unique titles for each page

Place target keywords closer to the beginning

Brand your titles with your company name

Avoid keyword stuffing

Include a clear value proposition

Note that Google has increased the length of title tags on mobile devices to 78 characters. This is actually about 8 characters more than title tags on the desktop search results.

Take advantage of that extra space by creating descriptive titles for each page.

Meta Description

Meta descriptions are short snippets of text that appear below the titles in the search results. They typically consist of a few sentences that describe the page’s content. These meta tags aren’t directly tied to search engine rankings but it’s still important to optimise them for each page.

Here’s an example of a well-written meta description:

It includes the target keyword (car hire in Perth) and offers a number of enticing value propositions. The use of structured data also displays star ratings and a daily price which helps the listing stand out more.

In contrast, here’s an example of a listing that ranks for the same query:

The meta description here is poorly optimised. It doesn’t include the target keyword and has a weak value proposition. The text also seems to just repeat itself again instead of ending with a strong call to action to click through and learn more.

The difference between the two is clear—The first is better optimised and more likely to drive more clicks from the SERPs as a result.

Improve Loading Times

It’s a challenging feat to pull off. But the reality is that mobile users don’t have the patience to wait for pages to load. They want answers now and won’t hesitate to leave a site that takes too long to load.

Data from Google has even found a strong correlation between loading times and bounce rates:

Start by testing your mobile site speed with the free tool from Google. Simply enter your URL and click the arrow button. The tool provides a brief overview of how your site performs on 3G and a percentage of estimated visitor loss.

Here’s an example:

Reddit is one of the most popular sites on the web so it’s likely doing fine. But if your site takes this long to load, users will be less forgiving and won’t stick around for long.

The tool also provides an industry comparison:

And top fixes for roadblocks that are slowing down the page:

A more detailed report is available by clicking the “Get My Free Report” button.

Follow these steps to boost your site performance:

1. Compress Images

Unoptimised images are one of the biggest culprits of poor loading times. High resolution images may look nice but they tend to be unnecessarily large in file size.

If you use WordPress, download and install the WP Smush plugin:

The plugin strips out unnecessary metadata from your image files and can be setup to compress new images you upload.

2.0 Leverage Browsing Caching

Web browsers communicate with servers to retrieve and load content. Caching means temporarily storing certain files in a user’s browser. This helps to cut down loading times as the browser only needs to download updated content on the user’s next visit.

Be sure to go into the plugin settings to enable page and browser caching.

To really take your site performance to the next level, you’ll want to consider investing in a Content Delivery Network. A CDN consists of a geographic network of servers. Loading times are cut down as content is loaded from the server closest to the user.

Even a one second difference can have a positive impact on your conversions.

Final Thoughts

Optimising the mobile experience is more important than ever. Users are increasingly shifting their attention to mobile devices and that trend shows no signs of slowing down. Even Google’s algorithms are beginning to prioritise mobile as part of their mobile first index initiative.

It’s clear that mobile can no longer be ignored. Follow the steps as outlined here to design a better mobile experience for your users and drive more conversions to your bottom line.

Neuroscientists from MIT found that the brain can process entire images in as little as 13 milliseconds, faster than the 100 milliseconds as previously recorded in earlier studies. Another surprising finding is that the brain continues to process those images longer after they disappear. The data points to the brain’s incredible ability to derive meaning from images even as they quickly flash across the screen. Consider the following example:

Our brains are able to process the image on the left as a “square” far faster than the text on the right. That’s because there are regions of the brain that are specifically designed for object recognition—A part of our evolution that has allowed our early ancestors to distinguish threats in their environments and respond accordingly.

Visual aids then are able to communicate messages far faster than other formats like text. So what does this have to do with website design? Simply that adding clear visuals helps communicate your brand’s message and better connect with your audience.

But there’s another reason to make visual aids more of a priority: Conversion rates.

Attention spans are notoriously short on the web. The average online user leaves a web page in 10 to 20 seconds according to data from the NN Group. Visitors simply don’t have the time or patience to wade through text-heavy content and are more much likely to bounce out instead.

Incorporating images makes your content come to life and increases engagement—Both of which have a positive impact on conversions. If your site is lacking in visuals, you could be leaving potential sales on the table.

Here we look at how you can use images to their full potential and increase conversions on your website.

Keep it Relevant

Using large background images is a growing trend in web design that adds a unique visual element. But adding images that are not directly relevant only adds visual bloat to your pages and serves no real purpose. Eye tracking studies have found that users pay attention to information-carrying images but ignore those that are purely for decorative purposes.

The following shows tracking points on an application page that users focused on:

The image shown is simply used as filler and seems out of place. Adding a more relevant image or even removing it entirely would be preferred as users on this particular page are there to learn more about the school’s application process.

Another example shows a stark contrast between areas that users paid attention to on two ecommerce sites:

Pottery Barn’s pages are better optimised with images that are directly relevant to the product. These thumbnails were examined closely as seen from the eye tracking results. In contrast, users on Amazon’s page spent less time on the images and more on the descriptions.

Both examples show that users pay more attention to information-carrying images to accomplish the task at hand. Put this into practice by using images that are directly relevant to your products or services.

Use High Quality Images

Countless studies have shown that purchases are driven by emotional factors. Using the right images can stir up positive feelings and increase engagement. But equally important as using relevant images on your pages is their quality.

Low quality images that are heavily pixelated or barely show any details leave a poor first impression. Here’s an example from a site’s header that barely makes an effort with its images:

This kind of design may have been acceptable in the early days of the Internet. But online users today increasingly judge the credibility of a website based on its visual design according to research from the Stanford Web Credibility Project.

Apple does an excellent job of using high quality images on its landing pages to communicate clear features of its products:

A professional design that incorporates high quality images indicates how serious a brand is about its reputation. Consider hiring a professional photographer to develop images for your website. The initial cost may be high but the investment pays off in the long run. Switch out any outdated or low resolution images to make your site much more visually impressive.

Show More Angles

Shopping online offers clear advantages—You can shop in the comfort of your home and have items shipped to your doorstep all at the click of a button. But it still doesn’t afford the same luxuries as in-store shopping experiences. You can’t physically hold a product in your hands or consult with a sales rep. Instead, you have to make a decision based on the information presented on the page.

Shopping online is hard enough without being able to test out anything in person. Any product you sell regardless of how mundane needs to showcase multiple photos from different angles.

Zappos does a good job of showing alternate views with their products:

One way to take this even further is by offering 360° views. In one case study, DueMaternity.com was able to increase conversions by 27% by simply adding this feature. Instead of the standard two-dimensional images, shoppers are able to rotate certain products to view even more angles.

In another instance, StacksandStacks.com reported that consumers who viewed a product video were 144% more likely to add that product to their shopping carts. Each video showcased the product in more detail, enabling shoppers to make a better informed purchasing decision.

Amazon displays multiple images and a video for some of its products:

Detailed images with multiple viewing angles and product videos have been shown to have a positive impact on conversion rates. But your results will vary which is why you’ll want to run split tests to measure the impact that any changes have on your sales.

Context Matters

Product images are a huge determining factor of whether consumers make a purchase. A report from the National Retail Federation found that 67% of consumers judge the quality of images on ecommerce pages as “very important”. For this reason the importance of relevant, high quality images cannot be stressed enough but what many online retailers often leave out is context.

Showing detailed images with different viewing angles is already a great start. But showing context better communicates the value of your products. Context helps shoppers better visualise the possibilities with your product and creative ways it can be used.

Ikea offers an excellent example as the company showcases closeups of its products like this:

And also shows more visuals of the product in different contexts:

These images give shoppers a better illustration of the product and creative uses for it. Hiring professional models also works well as people tend to relate better to other people. Osmo—a manufacturer of educational toys for the iPad—uses models to show how actual users engage with its products:

Shoppers on this page get a better visual representation of the product and the value it provides. Consider hiring models or having professional photos taken in a studio to show your products in context.

Add a Human Touch

Each time you browse Facebook or other social platform, you’re exposed to a plethora of faces. Yet with just a glance you’re able to recognise the faces and match them to a corresponding individual whether to a family member or acquaintance. Parts of the brain are specifically designed for facial recognition which is what gives us this amazing ability.

Adding a more personal touch to your website using photos of real humans not only increases engagement with your audience but has also been shown to have a positive impact on conversions.

Medalia Art sells Cuban and Brazilian art online from different artists. There is nothing special about what the company does but what’s worth noting is the A/B test they ran on their homepage. Medalia Art had these paintings of their artists:

These were then changed to show actual photos of the artists:

The result? A staggering 95% increase in conversions.

Another case study by 37Signals saw their conversions increase by 102.5% when the original design was changed to a more person-focused design.

Why does adding a human photo work so well? Jakob Nielsen from the NN Group suggests that adding a photo enhances your credibility and shows to audiences that you have nothing to hide. Both case studies show the positive impact that adding a human touch can have on conversions. But you want to use actual photos as data shows that users tend to ignore stock photos. Experiment with different photos to see what works best for your company.

Optimise Your Images

A high bounce rate indicates that users are leaving before interacting with other pages and one of the biggest culprits is slow loading times. Online users may have been tolerant of slow loading pages in the past but users today will not hesitate to leave a site if it takes too long to load.

Data from Google has found that bounce rates dramatically increase the more time passes for a page to load:

Speed is crucial then. Online users would rather click out to another site than stare at an empty page waiting for it to load. We’ve established that quality images are key to driving more sales but if they’re not properly optimised, they could be slowing down your site.

One way to check is by running your site through Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. Simply enter in your URL and click the Analyze button to run a speed test. Then scroll to the bottom for optimisation tips:

Google clearly thinks the page could do better in terms of image optimisation. If you see the same, you’ll want to take steps to optimise your images to improve loading times. Otherwise visitors will bounce out before they even have a chance to learn more about your offer.

If you use WordPress as your primary content management system, install the Smush plugin to compress and drastically reduce your file image sizes. Then run your site again through Google’s PageSpeed Insight tool and make any additional changes to improve your loading times. Even a few second improvement can have a huge impact on your conversions.

Conclusion

Online users today are increasingly looking for immersive experiences. No one has the time or patience to wade through blocks of text on the web without any relevant images to go with them. Visual aids then can go a long way towards improving the design of your site while also better connecting with your audience. Equally important is using relevant images that complement your products.

Follow the tips as outlined here to make the most out of your images and drive more conversions on your landing pages. But remember to also measure any changes you make as what works for one website may have different results for another.

]]>6 Ways to Incorporate Social Proof Into Your Web Designhttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/6-ways-to-incorporate-social-proof-into-your-web-design/
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 05:14:33 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=3386 Ways to Incorporate Social Proof Into Your Web Design Social proof is the phenomenon where people look to their environment to guide their own behavior. Robert Cialdini, author ...

Social proof is the phenomenon where people look to their environment to guide their own behavior. Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, describes it best: “We view a behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it”.

It’s a powerful concept that some of the largest brands utilise to drive more sales, and it’s not just limited to traditional advertising channels.

Priceline was one of the first web startups to use a celebrity endorser. The lucrative partnership with William Shatner helped the company stand out in the incredibly competitive travel industry. An endorsement from Jessica Simpson helped one startup in Los Angeles attract over 500,000 visitors to its new online store BeautyMint in the first 24 hours.

There’s no doubt just how effective endorsements can be. It’s why some of the largest brands are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to work with popular names. You may not have the budget to bring on a celebrity to endorse your brand but you can still make your marketing efforts online more effective.

And that starts with social proof.

Here we look at several ways you can incorporate social proof into your web design to build your brand’s credibility online and drive more sales.

1. Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are a powerful influencer. If one product you were considering has mostly negative reviews, you may think twice about it. But seeing positive feedback would make you much more confident in your purchase. What you’re doing then is looking for confirmation from others to justify your purchase.

You’re not alone either as an estimated 70% of consumers seek online reviews for purchasing decisions. The data is a perfect example of social proof and its impact on how consumers shop.

The number of user reviews a product has also affects conversions sales. Data from Reevoo found a a positive correlation between these two figures:

The more reviews a product had, the better it converted. It’s easier to get a better idea of a product’s quality when it has 100 reviews compared to 5. Online retailers like Amazon know this of course which is why star ratings and the number of customer reviews are prominently displayed for each product:

Users can easily view feedback from actual customers to help with their purchasing decisions.

Reviews are also incredibly important for local businesses. According to data from BrightLocal, 68% of consumers indicated that positive reviews made them more likely to use a business. Meanwhile, negative reviews made 40% of consumers not want to use a local business.

Both charts make two things clear—Whether you sell products online or provide services locally, acquiring customer reviews needs to be a part of your marketing strategy. It can mean the difference between lackluster sales and great ROI.

If you have an ecommerce store, you’ll want to enable reviews and actively encourage customers to leave feedback on their purchases. This could be as simple as sending a follow up email or offering a small incentive (e.g. a coupon). Another important point is that the star ratings and actual reviews should be clearly visible on the page.

2. Customer Testimonials

Research from Nielsen found that 92% of people trust recommendations from their peers.

Consumers are more likely to pay attention to a product especially if it’s received glowing reviews from someone they trust. But if no such recommendations are readily available, they rely on the word of others to make a purchasing decision. Even opinions from complete strangers are incredibly persuasive. The same report from Nielsen found that 70% of consumers trust product opinions posted online.

Customer testimonials then are the next best form of social proof to incorporate into your web design and have been shown to increase conversions by as much as 34%. Leveraging the word of others is an incredibly effective way to build credibility for your brand. Because testimonials provide potential prospects with more insight about your products or services.

The most basic form of testimonials are short blurbs from actual customers. But to really make them credible, be sure to also add a picture of the individual. Research has found that pictures increased trust among all participants.

Testimonials can be displayed in a number of formats as long as they convey the value of your products or services. Here are examples of testimonials that Freshbooks showcases on its homepage:

Each one is from an actual business owner that uses Freshbooks to successfully manage the accounting aspect of their businesses. Using recognised industry figures will help to make the testimonials on your landing pages far more effective but it’s not a must.

One way to take your testimonials even further is with video testimonials. Xero has a separate section that showcases testimonials using video:

Testimonials help to alleviate any doubts that prospects might have and can go either on your landing pages or even on pages devoted exclusively to customer feedback. Be sure to track new changes to your design to measure the impact that testimonials have on your conversions.

3. Brand Mentions

It’s no secret that web design has a major impact on trustworthiness.

Data from the Nielsen Norman Group found that the average page visit lasts less than a minute. If your site doesn’t establish trust or communicate a clear value proposition, visitors will not hesitate to bounce out. This is why including social proof is a must as it can be leveraged to lend credibility to your own brand and even make your site appear more legitimate.

Including the logos of brands your business works with on your landing pages is another classic example of social proof. It shows that your products or services are used by other brands which essentially acts as an endorsement. Brand mentions then can greatly influence how prospects perceive your offer.

Here’s an example from Crazy Egg’s homepage which displays some major brand names it works with:

Crazy Egg leverages existing relationships to leave a positive first impression with its visitors. This kind of social proof is an incredibly effective way to establish credibility and authority. If your brand has been featured in any major publications, you can also include those media mentions on your landing pages.

Here’s an example of media mentions that Animoto includes on its homepage:

If your business has worked with well known brands or been featured in a major publication like Forbes, then consider adding those mentions to your site.

4. Number of Users

Yet another proven form of social proof is to highlight your user or customer count. One classic example comes McDonalds which prominently advertised the number of hamburgers sold:

Displaying this figure accomplishes two things—It establishes credibility and eases any doubts that prospects have. McDonalds no longer displays the number of burgers sold but this marketing tactic certainly helped to make the brand more appealing over its competitors.

One way this can be implemented on your site is to highlight your user or customer count. It shows that your products or services are trusted by many other customers, and builds more credibility into your brand.

Basecamp—a popular project management software—shows the number of users on its platform right on the homepage:

The company also highlights the number of teams that have made the switch this week and even includes a testimonial to make its offer more enticing.

Social Media Examiner uses subscriber numbers to get visitors to subscribe to its newsletter:

Visitors to the blog are sure to take notice that over 400,000 people have subscribed and are more likely to follow suit. This form of social proof can be leveraged on your own site to drive visitors to take action whether that means filling out a lead form or subscribing to a newsletter. But if your base only has a small number of users, you may want to hold off on displaying those numbers until you have more impressive figures.

5. Trust Seals

Trust is a major determining factor on whether users proceed with a purchase.

A checkout usability test found that the reason why 18% of users abandoned a checkout process was simply because they “didn’t trust the site with their credit card information”. Companies like Amazon and Apple don’t have this problem as they’ve poured billions of dollars building their credibility. Users trust these brands and don’t hesitate to return.

Reviews and testimonials are proven ways to boost your brand’s credibility. But users also want to know that their sensitive information is safe and secure. Adding trust seals to your pages increases visitors’ level of confidence with their purchases.

Here are trust seals that Newegg adds to the bottom of its pages as a clear indication to visitors that it’s a trusted company:

Of course, certain seals are more trusted than others. Baymard Institute showed a number of trust badges to participants and asked which ones gave them the best sense of trust:

It’s possible to leverage the recognisability of these brands to boost your own. Note that you can’t simply copy and paste these badges onto your site. For example, you’ll need to purchase an SSL certificate from Symantec and go through an authentication process before you can add the Norton Secured Seal to your site.

This simple change can have a huge impact to your bottom line. Blue Fountain Media was able to increase their conversions by 42% by adding a Verisign trust seal:

Your own results will vary which is why it’s important to run A/B tests to measure the impact that new changes have on your conversions.

6. Industry Certifications

If you operate a service business or in a regulated area, display any relevant certifications to prove your practices meet industry requirements and demonstrate strong proficiency in your craft. Doing so is yet another way to leverage social proof to communicate to prospects that they’re dealing with a legitimate business.

The Australian Housing Group (AHG) displays the following certifications on the footer section of its site:

Prospects can see that the company has earned the necessary certifications to practice in their field. In contrast, some visitors may think twice about reaching out if these certifications are nowhere to be found.

Research the most relevant certifications you can earn in your industry to showcase your specialisation. Some certifications have a network attached to them. Becoming a member signals to prospects that your organisation meets certain requirements. Then display those badges on your site where it’s clearly visible to prove to prospects that you offer legitimate and reliable services.

Conclusion

Appealing web designs can only go so far. Prospects ultimately want to know that they’re dealing with a legitimate company and that their information is safe. Leverage these forms of social proof into your website design to establish trust with your audience and convert more visitors into customers.

]]>Sell Online With WooCommercehttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/sell-online-with-woocommerce/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:37:05 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=330There is no question about it—Online sales are exploding. More consumers are now shopping online than ever before across all devices. Data from Statista shows that global B2C eCommerce sales will reach ...

There is no question about it—Online sales are exploding.
More consumers are now shopping online than ever before across all devices. Data from Statista shows that global B2C eCommerce sales will reach 1.92 trillion dollars in 2016. That figure is only expected to continue in an upwards trend as more people around the world connect online.

E-commerce is massive.And it will only get bigger.

The good news is that building your own e-commerce store has never been easier especially with open source solutions such as ZenCart, OpenCart, and osCommerce. Simply choose a solution to build your store and you could be reaching customers from around the globe. But what if you already have a fully built WordPress site for your business? Is it possible to turn it into a thriving online store?
It is with WooCommerce.

Why WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a plugin that adds complete shopping cart functionality to any WordPress site.

It offers a stable platform for business owners to build their online stores and it comes bundled with a range of features. Visitors can easily add products to their shopping cart and complete their purchase with their preferred payment method. If you need additional features, there are hundreds of free and paid extensions you can install to extend the functionality of your store.

Perhaps the most appealing feature is that WooCommerce is completely free.

So with an existing WordPress site, you could install the ecommerce plugin and start selling online in a short period of time. Of course, extra functionality such as inventory management, credit card processing, and custom themes are available at an extra price.

Before getting started you will need a few things. These include:

Domain name: A domain name that you own is absolutely essential. The cost is a fairly minor investment considering the growth potential it can deliver for your business.

Hosting: There are no shortages of sites that will host your site for free (usually in exchange for putting ads on your pages), but these should generally be avoided as your own hosting solution is a much better option.

WordPress: Obviously you will need WordPress installed on your site before you can start selling with WooCommerce. WordPress is a powerful content management system that also happens to be free.

Theme: Design matters a great deal as you want a professional site that reflects your brand and gets visitors to buy. WooCommerce offers free themes but there are also plenty of paid themes that you can easily customise.

Payment gateway: You need a payment gateway so that visitors can complete their purchase and for the funds to go directly into your bank account. WooCommerce already comes built in with PayPal but if you want an alternate payment processor you will need to pay for an extension.

Shipping: If you sell any physical products, you will likely want to connect your store to the shipping company you use to see their actual rates.

WooCommerce makes it simple to build an online store. As your business expands you can easily add additional features. Here we look at how to setup WooCommerce so you can start selling your products online.

1. Initial Installation

The first step is to install the plugin.

Start by logging into your WordPress site, then navigate to Plugins on the lefthand side and click Add New. In the search box, type in “WooCommerce” and it should be the first result. Then click the Install Now button once you find the correct plugin.

Then remember to active the plugin on the next page.

2. Setting Up WooCommerce

Upon activating the plugin, you will be prompted with a setup page for all the initial settings.

Click the Let’s Go button to get started.

Before you can start selling, your store will need a few key pages such as a shopping page to display your products and a checkout page for customers to proceed with their purchase. Click on the Continue button to have these created or skip the step to create them later.

The next page is where you can setup the location, currency, and units of your site. Make sure that all the details are accurate before moving on.

WooCommerce is primarily for selling products but it also gives you the flexibility to sell software and other digital goods. If you have actual physical goods to ship, you can enable that setting and sales tax if you plan on charging it.

The final step is to enable payments on your online store. WooCommerce already comes built-in with PayPal so you can start accepting payments right away. But if you are looking for a specific payment gateway, you will need to install a separate extension.

After the initial setup, your store is finally ready to go.

Now that WooCommerce is installed, create your first product to familiarise yourself with the plugin. On the product page you can set each of the following:

Category

Sale price

Inventory

Weight and shipping class

Linked products

Custom attributes

Reviews

You can always change these settings later on as you start building out your online store.

3. Install a Compatible Theme

Not every WordPress theme is compatible with WooCommerce. After installing the ecommerce plugin, you might see the following notification at the top of your dashboard:

A plugin like WooCommerce comes with a ton of functionality from being able to manage inventory to payment processing. This means that your current theme may not be able to handle all these additional features so your online store may not work properly. If you see the notification above, then look for another theme that is compatible.

WooCommerce has an entire section on its site dedicated to themes.

There are even free themes available if you are really on a budget. But chances are that hundreds, even thousands of other sites have the exact same design. Once sales to your store start picking up, consider investing in a paid design that reflects your brand.

Final Points

Your online store is finally ready. But your site will be rather plain at first with only the bare essentials. This is why you should see your store as a work in progress as you will undoubtedly be adding and removing different things.

Here are some final points to maximise sales from your store:

Store details: Consumers want to know that they are shopping from a reputable business. Include an About Us page with contact information so visitors can easily get in touch with any questions they have.

Product pages: Make your product pages stand out with complete descriptions and images that show your products in detail. There is even data that shows adding video to a product page can dramatically improve conversions.

Categories: Before adding in products, start by laying out the structure of your site. With WooCommerce you can create categories and subcategories to organise your products which is beneficial from an SEO and user standpoint.

Analytics: Google Analytics is one of best tools to get more information about your visitors including where they are coming from and the pages they visit. Create an account and link it to your store by installing the Google Analytics Integration plugin.

Extensions: Need additional functionality for your online store? Whether you are looking to add more payment gateways or more advanced reporting, chances are you can find it by searching the Extensions page. Keep in mind that some extensions are paid.

Search engine optimisation: Finally, remember to incorporate basic SEO best practices. Higher rankings translate to more sales. So optimise your product pages for their target keywords to improve their visibility in the search results.

Online sales will continue to explode. The sooner you get your products online the better. With WooCommerce it is easier than ever to build an online store and it integrates directly into WordPress so you could start selling your products right away.

]]>5 Reasons Why Hiring Web Designers is Better Than Site Buildershttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/5-reasons-why-hiring-web-designers-is-better-than-site-builders/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:33:26 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=327Having a website is simply a must in today’s digital world and is the first step to building a strong online presence. Potential customers can land on your site to ...

Having a website is simply a must in today’s digital world and is the first step to building a strong online presence. Potential customers can land on your site to learn more about your products or services, ultimately contributing to your bottom line

But with little technical expertise how do you even get started?

One solution is with site builders.

These are web applications that offer a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) interface where you simply drag and drop different elements onto predefined templates. Site builders make it easy to build a fully fledged site even if you have no coding experience. Some even offer free hosting and dedicated customer support.

While site builders may appear to be an attractive option, the reality can be a little different. Here we look at some of the main reasons why having your own site professionally developed is ultimately a better business decision.

1. You Retain Complete Control

Site builders are fast and cheap.

Most have hundreds, even thousands of templates to choose from. In no time at all you could have a fully built site for your business by simply following the steps provided. All you need to do is choose a design and enter in basic information about your business. The whole process from start to finish is designed to be effortless.

But in exchange you sacrifice a great deal of control.

Sites that are built with site builders (e.g. Weebly, Wix, etc.) are typically hosted on those servers. So if you want to switch to a different hosting platform, there is no easy way to transfer your site over. This becomes a problem especially if you want a dedicated server to handle an increase in resources. You would essentially need to build the site again entirely from scratch.

You may be saving initially on hosting and development costs, but the degree of control you lose in the process is simply not worth it in the long run.

2. Greater Degree of Flexibility

In the beginning, a website with just the essentials will likely be more than sufficient.

But as your business grows you will eventually want to add more features to your site to make it even more robust and functional. Restricting yourself to a site builder means sacrificing the flexibility to easily modify your site. Which only makes it harder to:

Implement a custom design that reflects your brand

Add a forum or other feature into your site

Link your site to another web application

Move to a more capable hosting solution

Most business owners are primarily concerned with how their website looks. But building a site is more than simply creating an aesthetically pleasing design. There are other far more important aspects including usability and search engine friendliness.

Having complete control of your site is key as it gives you the flexibility to easily modify your site. Your current needs may be fairly basic for now but working with a professional developer allows room for future business growth.

3. Site Builders Come at a Cost

Perhaps the most appealing feature of site builders is their relatively low cost. Some even allow you to build and host your site completely free of charge. All you need to do is simply sign up for an account, create your site using the web editor, and hit the publish button for it to go live.

But there’s a catch.

As with anything that appears to be “free”, there is almost always a condition involved. Site builders need revenue to keep their servers running and to provide ongoing support. So most will display advertisements within your content or have a tagline in the footer such as “This site was created with sitebuilder.com. Build your own site for free”. Others may charge higher prices for hosting or domain registration.

Advertisements reflect poorly on your business and they can even have a negative impact on revenue. Visitors may see an advertisement with lower prices and click away to a competing site. So think twice before relying on a site builder as you could be losing sales or paying more in the long run.

4. A Custom Design That Reflects Your Brand

Site builders make it almost too easy to build a site.

But that ease of use also dramatically lowers the barrier of entry so that practically anyone with an email address can build a site. Weebly boasts on its homepage that it has over 30 million users. Other site builders and free blog hosting platforms (e.g. Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, etc.) undoubtedly have large user bases.

Building with a popular site builder such as Weebly means there are likely thousands of other sites that are similar in design.

Why is this a problem?

Because using a predefined template fails to differentiate your site. Having a professionally designed site that reflects your brand helps your business gain a competitive advantage. This is absolutely key and it can mean the difference between visitors engaging with your business or hitting the back button.

As attention spans get shorter and shorter online you need a professional design that makes a great first impression, something you likely won’t get from predefined templates.

5. A Highly Optimised Site Built For Search Engines

Gone are the days of looking through the Yellow Pages to find a local business. More consumers now start their research with an online search or through social media networks such as Facebook. According to data from Google, 4 out of 5 consumers rely on search engines for local information.

If your business can’t be found online, it only benefits your competitors.

SEO is an important factor that cannot be overlooked when building a site. Optimising the following factors improves visibility in the search results:

Titles

Headers

Meta descriptions

Image ALT text

Display URLs

Page speed

Even mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor.

Having a professionally designed site means that you have the flexibility to implement SEO right from the very start. A number of site builders allow for basic optimisation such as changing page titles but not the full breadth of options that can really push your rankings in the search results. There are also some site builders that will prevent your site from being indexed unless you upgrade to a paid plan.

Conclusion

Your website is an incredibly valuable asset for your business.
Site builders may be an attractive option as you can quickly build a fully fledged site. But the downsides far outweigh the initial benefits. Not only do you lose a great deal of flexibility and control, you could also end up paying more in the long term with a design that is barely unique or optimised.

To maintain control of your site and have an appealing design that reflects your brand, the best approach is to either build your own or work with professional web designers.

]]>3 Key Principles of Web Usability That Can Make or Break Your Sitehttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/3-key-principles-of-web-usability-that-can-make-or-break-your-site/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:30:24 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=323Seconds. That is how long the average online users stay on websites before moving to the next one. Research has shown that a majority of page visits last less than ...

That is how long the average online users stay on websites before moving to the next one. Research has shown that a majority of page visits last less than a minute. Fail to make a lasting impression with your visitors and you can expect engagement to suffer as a result.

Since the early days of the Internet, users have gotten used to certain standards. Most will not even hesitate to click the back button if the site fails to meet their expectations. Others may decide to linger for bit but may ultimately decide to leave.

Each visitor that leaves represents the loss of a potential sale.

Those first few seconds are absolutely critical then. Increase engagement with your visitors and you can practically double or even triple conversions. Most business owners think the solution is with a great design with a ton of features. But they often neglect another aspect that is equally, if not more, important: Usability.

Web usability refers to how easy it is to navigate a site. And it can mean the difference between visitors effortlessly engaging with your site or leaving in frustration.

Here we look at some of the key principles of usability that can either make or break your site.

1. Make the Site Easily Accessible

One of the basic principles of web usability is the accessibility of your site. If visitors are unable to access your site, it becomes practically worthless, even if you have a substantial amount invested into it.

Here are a few basics of accessibility:

Server uptime: Nothing is more frustrating than trying to access a website that is down. Not only does it mean a loss in potential revenue, it also reflects poorly on the brand. Invest in reliable hosting to prevent any loading errors.

Speed: Online users are incredibly impatient. Pages should load within a few seconds, any longer and you risk losing visitors. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to identify where speed improvements can be made.

According to data from comScore, global traffic on mobile devices has overtaken traffic on desktops. More searches are also done on mobile devices.

Google has even made mobile-friendliness a ranking factor so your site could rank lower in the mobile search results. Responsive design is the recommended approach as pages dynamically change to fit all screen resolutions.

As more consumers browse the web on mobile, a mobile friendly design is a must.

2. Strive For Simplicity and Clarity

Another key principle of web usability is to keep things as simple as possible.

In “Don’t Make Me Think”, Steve Krug states that pages should be designed to be self-explanatory. In other words, your design needs to make it as effortless as possible for visitors to achieve exactly what they set out to do. A confusing site structure or a cluttered layout only pushes users away to competing sites.

Visitors typically have certain goals in mind whether to make a purchase or find information. Your job is to lay the groundwork to make those actions simple and straightforward.

Here are ways to achieve a clear and user friendly design:

Eliminate unnecessary elements: Adding widgets and other features may seem like a good idea. But they also tend to slow pages down and can even send visitors away. So think twice before adding any elements and think about whether they really contribute to a positive experience.

Implement a friendly site structure: Just as supermarkets organise products by categories, a clear navigation structure is a must. Visitors should be able to find exactly what they are looking for. Use categories and subcategories.

Make generous use of white space: Some business owners may think that empty space on a page is a waste. But white space makes it easier for visitors to quickly scan a page and make sense of what is in front of them. Huge blocks of text with countless advertisements on a page tends to divide attention.

Strive for simplicity in your designs.

And ruthlessly reduce clutter so as to put more focus on the parts that matter.

3. Establish Credibility

You cannot make a sale without trust.

Brands such as Apple and Toyota have spent decades and billions of dollars earning the trust of consumers worldwide. You wouldn’t hesitate to purchase from either as you know exactly what you are getting and you can depend on their prompt services if anything goes awry. But visitors new to your site don’t have a similar frame of reference. This makes converting those visitors challenging for obvious reasons.

You may not have the brand authority of a Fortune 500 company, but hhere are ways to build credibility into your site:

Use a professional design: First impressions matter. A clean design that reflects your brand is a must so consider hiring a professional web developer to turn your ideas into reality.

Invest in quality content: Publishing quality content is one of the best ways to establish credibility with your target market. But a page that is riddled with spelling errors or grammar mistakes reflects poorly on your business.

Use trust seals: Consumers are increasingly wary of shopping online. Data has shown that placing trust seals had a positive impact on conversion rates. They make visitors feel more confident when browsing and shopping from your site.

Use testimonials or reviews: Testimonials or reviews from actual customers can help lend credibility to your products or services. Place these where they are clearly visible such on the homepage or landing page.

Make contact details visible: Visitors may have questions about the products or services you offer. Make sure that business details including your phone number and address are clearly visible. Be sure to also create separate pages for contact details and add an “About Us” page.

Build credibility into your site by taking these steps.

Conclusion

The importance of web usability cannot be stressed enough.

Online users have incredibly high standards when browsing the web and they won’t hesitate to click the back button when expectations aren’t met. If conversions are abysmal on your site, it is likely to poor usability. Ensure that your site is easily accessible, implement a clean design, and establish credibility by taking the steps as detailed above. Improving usability is the best way to gain a competitive advantage and improve conversions in the process.

]]>3 Reasons Why Speed Matters When Designing a Websitehttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/3-reasons-why-speed-matters-when-designing-a-website/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:23:55 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=315Nothing is more frustrating than staring at a blank page after a few seconds. Even with a quality design, your site will fail to keep visitors engaged if it loads ...

Nothing is more frustrating than staring at a blank page after a few seconds. Even with a quality design, your site will fail to keep visitors engaged if it loads too slowly. Loading times largely determine whether visitors will stay on your site or navigate elsewhere to a competing page.

Even a few seconds is enough to have a negative impact on your business and cause visitors to abandon your site in frustration. Improving loading times then needs to be a priority to avoid this scenario. Design certainly matters to make an impression but loading times shouldn’t be overlooked either.

Here we look at several major reasons why website speed matters.

1. Visitors Expect a Fast Browsing Experience

Consumers today simply do not have the patience to wait for sites to load.

A study from Akamai found that nearly half of online users expect a web page to load in two seconds or less and will not hesitate to leave if it takes any longer. The study also showed a correlation between loading times and overall satisfaction. Online shoppers who cited slow speeds were more likely to rate their experience negatively.

The following chart from Torbit shows the impact that loading times have on bounce rates:

The results are clear: Site speed is absolutely critical. If your site takes longer than a few seconds to load, it leaves a poor impression with your visitors and you risk losing them forever. Consumers may be more tolerant with major sites such as Facebook but you don’t have that same luxury.

This is why it is important to design for speed right from the start.

2. Site Speed Impacts Conversions

Slow speeds undermine sales.

Think about your own personal experience. You do an online search for home appliances and click through to one of the product pages in the search results. But after a few seconds the page is still loading. Do you stay or leave? Chances are that you would click the back button and click on a different result.

After interviewing 1,048 online shoppers, the study from Akamai (mentioned above) found that:

40% will abandon a page if it takes longer than three seconds to load

52% of online shoppers indicated that fast loading pages are important for site loyalty

14% of shoppers will shop elsewhere if pages load slowly and 23% will stop shopping altogether

79% of shoppers who experience a dissatisfying visit are less likely to shop from that site again

57% of online shoppers insist on a fast checkout process

Online shoppers are unforgiving when it comes to site speeds. The data makes it clear that visitors will not hesitate to abandon a site if it takes too long to load. As you can expect, this has a negative impact on conversion rates. But just how much?

A study by TagMan (tag management supplier) found a strong correlation between site speeds and conversion rates. Conversions dropped by about 6.7% for each additional second it took for the site to load.

Page abandonment means that no conversions can take place. And you risk losing potential sales due to loading delays.

3. Site Speed is Now a Ranking Factor

Google is obsessed with improving browsing experiences.

The simple reality is that slow speeds negatively impact the user experience. No one has the time or patience to wait around for pages to load so most will end up abandoning the site altogether. Google has always rewarded quality sites and site speed is no exception.

Site speed has been a ranking factor for many years now which meant that slow sites would be penalised in the search results. Loading times will continue to be important especially as mobile usage becomes more prominent. In fact, several reports indicate that Google will soon be incorporating mobile speed into this ranking factor in the coming months.

Improving your site speed won’t necessarily result in overnight rankings. But it can result in major competitive advantages in other areas especially user experience.

Steps to Improving Your Site Speed

Every second counts.

Even with a beautiful design you risk losing sales due to loading delays. The PageSpeed Insights tool from Google gives you a rough score of how your site fairs in term of performance. It also tells you exactly what areas need improvement. What makes the PageSpeed Insights tool particularly useful is that it provides insight on both the mobile and desktop versions of your site.

Here are examples from the Yahoo site:

Clicking on the suggestions provides more details on issues that are slowing the site down. Click through to each to find out the steps needed to make your site load faster.

Conclusion

Site speed matters.

Consumers expect pages to load quickly. A number of studies have shown that visitors will not hesitate to abandon a site if they have to wait longer than a few seconds. This leads to higher bounce rates which has a negative impact on conversion rates. Google has even made site speed a ranking factor so your site could rank lower in the search results if it’s too slow.

Use the PageSpeed Insights tool to identify and improve areas that are slowing down the mobile and desktop versions of your site. Remember, an improvement of even one second can have a positive impact on conversions so taking these steps is well worth the effort.

]]>How to Design a Search Engine Friendly Site For Maximum Visibilityhttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/how-to-design-a-search-engine-friendly-site-for-maximum-visibility/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:20:46 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=306Search matters. Google processes billions of search queries every single day. Whether you sell products to a global audience or provide services to local customers, search can be an incredibly ...

Google processes billions of search queries every single day. Whether you sell products to a global audience or provide services to local customers, search can be an incredibly lucrative marketing channel. Your target market is likely searching right now for keywords that are relevant to the products or services your business offers. Ranking for these keywords can drive a considerable amount of traffic to your pages.

But your site needs to be optimised to have any chance of ranking.

Simply building a site with an attractive design is not enough to bring visitors to your site. A study from Chitika found that the first page of the search results attract a majority of all clicks.

A very small percentage click past the first page.

Ranking for your target keywords starts by designing a search engine friendly site. Here we look at some of the most important SEO components that are necessary to build into a site for higher visibility.

1. Search Engine Friendly URL Structures

An optimised URL structure is both search engine and user friendly. The best URLs are those that clearly indicate what a page is about and include relevant keywords.

An example of a good URL structure might be: www.examplesite.com/golf-clubs/drivers.

Search engines know that this page is about Drivers and that it belongs in the Golf Clubs category. Visitors can also hover over a link and see a preview in their browser before clicking through.

In WordPress, URLs have the following structure by default: www.examplesite.com/?p=123.

Fortunately, changing this setting is rather straightforward. From your dashboard, go to Settings and click on Permalinks. Then select the Custom Structure option and enter “/%category%/%postname%/” (without quotes).

Now your URLs will be more search engine friendly.

2. Intuitive Navigation Structure

Structure matters as it would be almost impossible to find anything without it. Walk into any department store and you will see aisles of goods that are neatly organised by section. This is intentional of course so that shoppers can find exactly what they are looking for.

The same principle applies when designing a site for SEO.

A navigation structure is essential both from a search engine and user standpoint. A clear structure makes it easy for Google to crawl and index all the pages. Visitors are also able to navigate through the various categories and subcategories with ease.

Main navigation menus are typically at the top of the top for better visibility but they can also be placed to left or right of the site as well. You should carefully plan out the structure of your site before building it out.

3. Responsive Web Design

Mobile usage is rising.

And recent trends indicate that it will continue.

More consumers than ever before are browsing the web from smartphones and tablets. But nothing is more frustrating than landing on a site that is not mobile-friendly. Google has even updated its ranking algorithm to favour mobile-friendly sites in the mobile search results.

One option is to build a separate mobile site to meet all requirements.

But a better approach is to implement a responsive design, which is actually Google’s recommended configuration. Responsive designs are based on a grid design so the different site elements dynamically adjust to fit all screen resolutions. So someone browsing from a smartphone can just as easily access your site as someone browsing from a desktop or tablet.

Responsive design avoids having to maintain two separate sites and it also has a number of SEO benefits as there is only site for Google to crawl.

4. Incorporate Keyword Research

Keyword research cannot be stressed enough.

You need to target the right keywords to have any chance of ranking in the search results. Use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to identify keywords that are relevant to your products or services. This tool also provides traffic estimates so you can assess whether certain keywords are worth targeting.

Once you identify keywords to target, optimise the following on-page aspects of your site:

Title tags

Header tags

Display URLs

Image ALT text

Content

Optimising your site right from the start will give your business a major competitive advantage online.

5. Improve Loading Times

A beautiful design won’t matter if the site elements are taking too long to load. Online users are incredibly impatient and will not hesitate to exit a page if they have to wait more than a few seconds.

This chart from Torbit demonstrates the correlation between loading times and bounce rates:

So optimising loading times absolutely needs to be a priority.

Use the PageSpeed Insights tool from Google for a speed assessment of the desktop and mobile versions of your site. Then take steps to improve the performance of your site by optimising images, minifying CSS and Javascript, and enabling compression. Even a one second improvement can improve engagement on your pages.

Conclusion

Web design is just one aspect of a successful site.

Most online users now turn to search engines to find local businesses and conduct product research. Ranking for relevant keywords can generate more sales for your business. But it all starts with designing a site that incorporates the SEO components described here.

]]>Which Content Management System (CMS) Should You Choosehttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/which-content-management-system-cms-should-you-choose/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:15:47 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=302Content is one of the most important aspects of a website. Even with a beautifully designed site, visitors have zero incentive to stay without content that captures their attention. So ...

Even with a beautifully designed site, visitors have zero incentive to stay without content that captures their attention. So it comes as no surprise that more companies are investing in content creation as a means to:

Grow traffic to their website

Establish authority with their audience

Drive more leads and sales

Increase their reach online

Content is one of the most effective mediums to connect with target audiences. But the effectiveness of your content largely depends on the publishing platform you choose.

This is where content management systems (CMS) in.

A CMS is a software application that facilitates the management of content. These systems consist of back-end interfaces that allow users to add, edit, or remove content. Choosing the right CMS is critical to implementing an effective content strategy.

But choosing the right one can be rather daunting.

There are numerous open-source and commercial CMS options available, each with their own set of features and capabilities. The following shows a breakdown of the platforms that power the top million sites:

WordPress is by far the most popular platform, but Drupal and Joomla are also widely used. All three have distinct differences and capabilities. So which one should you choose to power your business website?

Here we look at the pros and cons of three of the most popular content management systems.

WordPress

WordPress was created in 2003 as a blogging platform. It has since grown to be the most popular CMS in the world, powering nearly half of the top million sites in the world. Your favourite sites are most likely powered by WordPress.

Here is why so many businesses rely on this platform:

Easy to install: Getting started with WordPress is incredibly easy and you could have a fully built site in a short period of time. Many hosting companies now also provide instant installations at the click of a button.

Intuitive interface: WordPress has an incredibly intuitive dashboard that anyone (even those without any technical experience) could navigate. For many business owners this means being able to quickly publish content without having to jump through hoops to do so.

Plugins and themes: Want to add more social media features to your site? Or add e-commerce capabilities? WordPress boasts an extensive library of plugins (free and paid) that add even more functionality to a site. There are also fully customisable themes available.

Search engine friendly: Another appealing aspect of WordPress is how search engine friendly it is right out of the box. Even some of the stock themes are mobile-friendly, which help improve rankings in the mobile search results.

Community support: WordPress has a massive community supporting the platform. New features and security updates are constantly being released in new versions. The support forum is another valuable source should you run into any problems.

WordPress is an excellent CMS for those who are relatively new to web design. Although it is primarily a blogging platform, it can be easily customised for all types of businesses (e.g. restaurants, service providers, cafes, etc.). For a beginner, this platform is perhaps the most suitable.

But there are also limitations to take into consideration.

If you sell physical products online, you are probably better off with a dedicated e-commerce management solution. Likewise, if you want to want to build an online community or plan to manage large volumes of content, a more comprehensive CMS might be better. The good thing though is that WordPress is completely free so you could always give it a test drive.

Drupal

Drupal is yet another open-source platform that powers some of the most popular websites on the web. Its advanced features make it far more capable than other platforms.

Here is what makes Drupal an appealing CMS:

More advanced features: Drupal offers more advanced capabilities than other CMS options. This makes it incredibly flexible as you can add new features as your business grows. Building online communities requires user profiles that anyone can create, features that Drupal is capable of.

Better performance: Loading times are important as online visitors will not hesitate to leave a site if takes more than a few seconds to load. Because Drupal is less resource-intensive, pages tend to load faster. But adding too many plugins can reduce performance.

Plugins and themes: Just like with WordPress, Drupal is easily customisable with plugins and themes (free and paid) that let you change your site exactly how you want it. This platform also has a massive community supporting it so constant updates are available.

If your business requires a full-fledged site with more advanced features that WordPress lack, Drupal is the way to go.

But there are also several drawbacks to consider.

Because Drupal is more advanced, it can be rather confusing for beginners to navigate. A basic understanding of HTML and PHP is also a must to make any visual changes. Even without coding experience, you could still hire a professional web designer with a background in Drupal. Just like WordPress, Drupal is open-source so you can install it for free.

Joomla

Joomla is another popular CMS that makes it easy to build and manage sites. This platform also powers some of the most largest brands in the world including GE and eBay. Just like WordPress and Drupal, Joomla is open-source and free to download for everyone.

Here are some reasons why Joomla might be better suited for your business:

Community platform: Joomla comes packed with features that make it straightforward to build an online community with strong social networking features. There is also a massive library of modules you can install to extend the functionality of your site even further.

Commerce: E-commerce is a massive industry and is only projected to get bigger. With Joomla, you can easily set up an online store and process orders with third party payment integration.

Well supported: Joomla may not be as popular as WordPress but it is still well supported with teams of developers around the world. And if you need any professional work done, the Joomla Resources Directory has providers that go through an approval process.

Manageable learning curve: Joomla offers a middle ground between WordPress and Drupal. Even with little technical expertise, you should still be able to find your way around and build a great site on your own. But you will likely need to go through tutorials to familiarise yourself with the CMS.

Joomla is an excellent CMS to build amazing sites. But it is better suited for building corporate sites with large intranets or sites with social features. This CMS offers powerful functionality but it remains incredibly user-friendly.

So Which CMS Should You Choose?

The answer largely depends on your business needs.

If you are looking to build a simple website for a small business, then WordPress is the obvious choice. If you are looking for a CMS with more advanced features and unlimited customisations, Drupal would be right up your alley. And if you are looking to sell products online or want to build a social network, Joomla would be your best bet.

It may be tempting to select the one with the most features but this isn’t always the best approach. At the very minimum the platform you choose should:

Have a simple and straightforward interface

Allow you to easily add or remove content

Support third party systems

Have frequent security updates

Be customisable with plugins

Be optimised for search engines

The good news is that WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are all free to download and install. If you are still not sure which one to choose, test out each one on a test domain or subdomain and give them a try. Spend some time with the interfaces and note down how easy or hard it is to make changes. The CMS you choose should also allow for future growth.

]]>An In-Depth WordPress SEO Guide For Higher Rankingshttps://www.perth-web-design.com.au/an-in-depth-wordpress-seo-guide-for-higher-rankings/
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:10:41 +0000https://www.perth-web-design.com.au/?p=289WordPress is a powerful content management system (CMS). Its ease of use and versatility has made it one of the most popular platforms, currently powering 26.4% of the top 10 million sites ...

Its ease of use and versatility has made it one of the most popular platforms, currently powering 26.4% of the top 10 million sites in the world. That number will only continue to grow given how simple and straightforward it is. In fact, you could have a fully functioning site for your business in a short period of time. And with an extensive selection of plugins you could even add ecommerce capabilities and social features to your site.

But one crucial component is still missing: Traffic.

Even with a fully functioning site and a beautiful web design, traffic won’t suddenly flood your site. For that to happen your site needs to rank in the search results for keywords that are relevant to your products or services. So how do you increase rankings for target keywords?

It starts with search engine optimisation.

SEO is the process of optimising various aspects of a site to rank higher in the search results. Why does this matter? Because higher rankings ultimately leads to more targeted traffic and sales for your business.

Here we put together a comprehensive WordPress SEO guide. Implementing each of these steps will give your site a major competitive advantage online.

1. Change Default Permalink Settings

Optimising display URLs is beneficial from both a search engine and user perspective. Search engines have a better idea of what a page is about and users can preview a link (within their browsers) before clicking through to the site.

Luckily you can change your display URLs to be more search engine friendly. Hover over the Settings tab and click on Permalinks. Select Custom Structure and enter “/%category%/%postname%/” (without quotes). Your new URLs will now appear as: http://site.com/services/mobile-locksmith.

Alternatively, you can also enter “/%postname%/” to display only the title of the page or post.

Making these changes won’t necessarily boost your rankings overnight. But they do contribute to better on-page optimisation of your site. Every bit helps and making these changes only takes little time.

2. Install the WordPress SEO by Yoast Plugin

Relevance is perhaps the most important ranking factor as Google tends to reward sites that are better optimised. WordPress SEO by Yoast is easily one of the most useful in terms of SEO.. This plugin makes it effortless to write optimised content and it even provides an overall rating with suggestions for each post.

Login to your WordPress site, then hover over the Plugins tab on the left side and click Add New. Search for “WordPress SEO” and click the Install Now buttons for the Yoast plugin:

Then active the plugin on the next page.

Here is a basic overview of what the Yoast SEO plugin can do:

Page analysis (e.g. based on focus keywords)

Access to .htaccess and robots.txt file

Advanced XML sitemap functionality

Built-in breadcrumbs functionality

Ability to verify

Integration with social media networks

RSS enhancements

This plugin will come in handy in the next step when optimising on-page SEO aspects for individual posts. The Yoast SEO plugin is free to install but there is also a paid version that offers more premium features.

3. Optimise On-Page Factors For Individual Posts

Google looks at hundreds of different factors to determine rankings.

But on-page factors are easily one of the most important.

On-page factors refer to aspects on a page (e.g. titles, content, etc.) that you have control over. A page with comprehensive information will outrank another page that only briefly covers the topic. So it is certainly worth optimising each of your pages to increase their rankings.

According to a survey from Moz, on-page signals account for 20.3% of local search engine ranking factors.

Go through each post and optimise the following on-page factors:

Title tags: Titles are arguably the most important on-page factor as they are the first thing that visitors see in the search results. Include your target keywords here and write an engaging title to increase click through rates.

Meta descriptions: These are short snippets of information that appear in the search results below the titles. They give visitors a better idea of what the page is about. Include your target keywords here too and a call to action to encourage visitors to click through.

Headers: Headers are useful as the improve readability by breaking up blocks of text. Aim to include secondary keywords in your headers.

Image ALT text: Be sure to add an ALT text to your images as doing so helps them show up in image search.

Content: Aim to provide a comprehensive overview of your topic. Include your target keywords as well as related phrases several times throughout the content. If you have a local business, make sure that your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) are clearly visible. Be careful not to over-optimise your content as the last thing you want is a ranking penalty.

In the previous step you installed the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin. The keyword analysis feature is easily one of the most useful. It looks at how optimised your content is for a target keyword and provides suggestions for making it even better.

Here is an example of what the Keyword tab looks like (accessible below each post):

Go through each post and follow the suggestions to better optimise your content. Optimising your posts will go a long way towards improving their rankings in the search results.

4. Link Internally

Linking to other pages on your own site is beneficial for the following reasons:

It helps establish site architecture: Menus are a good example of this. Category pages typically link to subcategory pages and users are able to narrow down their results.

It helps Google crawl the site: Internal links help the Googlebots crawl and index your content. This is why making all pages accessible within a few clicks is strongly recommended.

It provides visitors with more reading options: If you maintain a regular blog, you can use new posts to link back and reference older posts you have published. This is a great way to get visitors to stay on your site.

It helps promote new products or services: Linking to new products or services from popular posts is a great way to boost visibility. Any visitors that land on those pages can follow those links and potentially become a customer.

Internal linking is a highly effective tactic and is simple to do.

Highlight a keyword within one of your posts and click the Link icon at the top bar of the editor.

Then enter the URL you would like the keywords to link to and apply the new changes. Highlight keywords that are relevant to the pages to to give them an SEO boost. In addition to linking to your own pages, link to other sites as well to lend credibility to any statements you make.

4. Submit a Sitemap

Sitemaps are like the table of contents in a book. They contain a list of all the pages in your site, and submitting them to search engines helps in the crawling process.

The WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin automatically creates an XML sitemap for your site. To find the link, hover over the SEO tab on the left side and click on XML Sitemaps. Then in the General tab, you will see the following:

Click on the XML Sitemap button to be automatically redirected to your sitemap. Then login to your Google Search Console account. Create an account if you haven’t already as this is a valuable resource to get more insight about your site.

Click on Crawl and Sitemaps, then click the red Add/Test Sitemap button:

Enter in your sitemap URL here and Google will take care of the rest. Any new pages that you add to your site will be crawled and indexed more quickly.

Conclusion

WordPress is an incredibly powerful platform to build a business.

But you simply cannot expect to rank without first optimising your site. Even a site with an attractive and engaging design is not enough as the competition is stronger than ever. So follow and implement each of these SEO best practices with your new WordPress site to gain a competitive advantage online.